The Not-So-Jolly Holidays

The weekend before Christmas, our little Jack wasn't feeling top-notch. Fever, cranky, pacifier rash... poor baby. His ninth tooth made a small appearance, but is still working it's way up. Saturday night, we noticed his hands also had a bit of a rash, but didn't think much of it since he was feeling better. I thought it could be hand foot mouth, but there wasn't anything on his feet. Sunday night we took off his socks and, lo and behold, a for sure rash on his feet. Yup- hand foot mouth disease was at our house. "Woot"! And to make sure we knew it, Gavin got his fever that night. James got his the day after, Christmas Eve.

Christmas Sunday- one day, we'll get ALL kids smiling and holding still... One day...

Jack was doing much better so we were hoping the two older boys would bounce back after the initial fever let up. Theirs lasted longer, and before presents on Christmas morning, Gavin threw up. We decided to do a small-scale Christmas morning and only open about half of the gifts since we didn't want Gavin getting  too worked up (he gets easily emotional... he's two...). James got up late and seemed a bit off, but snapped out of it. We opened the presents, then sent Gavin back upstairs to snuggle with Daddy and feel better.

 First round of opening presents

About 15 minutes after presents were done, James went to the bathroom and got sick. It was so sad. He got to snuggle with Aunt Rach (aka Sissy) while Gavin got to come back downstairs and the two sickies hung out on the couch while I disinfected everything, started laundry, and tried to keep a happy one-year old away from his sick brothers. Luckily, that was their only bout and were able to keep water and food down the rest of the day. We finished opening presents with Nana and Papa on video chat that night and though they were still under the weather, it was so great to see them more themselves. Our Christmas dinner was delayed a few days, but Rach did make us all a great batch of fettuccine that was much appreciated. Definitely not the best Christmas, but grateful it turned out well in the end.

Nana and Papa putting smiles back on their faces

Second round of presents

Hopefully next year will be a bit better. I'm hoping to simplify our Christmas even more, too. Not like they got too much stuff... but try to not be a part of the hustle and bustle of Christmas so much. It makes me sad to see how much earlier stores pull out the Christmas stuff every year and how commercialized this sacred holiday has become. Kind of made me a scrooge, and I didn't like that. I guess what I'm getting at, so to speak, is  like the saying, "Be in the world, not of the world". Enjoy the Spirit of Christmas- Don't let the excess get to me- Remember the reason for the season. I'm grateful that as a world we celebrate the birth of our Savior. I want to try to emphasize that more in our home. Where would we all be without that wee babe in a manger?

New Year's Eve started out fun, but got a little dull in the end :) I decided to make our delayed Christmas dessert that night so I didn't have to have more treats around the house (seriously- Christmas, birthday, and New Year's all in one week... too many sweets sometimes!). It was a crock-pot cake. And it was goooood. Once the kiddos were in bed, the three of us played a fun game of dice and remembered that we had Rock Band. We busted that out and rocked out to some songs before Rach left for a more lively evening with her friends. We were going to keep playing games, but I realized I needed to make the dough for the Orange Rolls in the morning and get that going (another yumminess that was delayed from Christmas).  I wasn't even done with those and put the TV on with 40 seconds to spare before 2013 was upon us. Rather anti-climatic. Back into the kitchen to finish the rolls and off to bed! Those rolls were worth it because they were super good. James had two and wanted more. Ha- no.

Welcome 2013. Got lots of plans for you.